12:52 AM,
Oct. 1, 2012

Steven Pinker

Written by

Matt Frassica, The Courier-Journal

Steven Pinker must be one of the world's most well-informed optimists. The Harvard psychology professor and author of "How the Mind Works," "The Language Instinct" and "The Blank Slate" has for years made the case that human nature isn't all bad.

His latest book, "The Better Angels of Our Nature," takes the argument one step further, drawing on lots of historical data to illustrate the point that, despite our occasionally warlike nature, violence has drastically declined over the course of human history.

In the book, Pinker identifies the historical trends that he believes have led to this ...